Moonlight & Magnolias

Moonlight and Magnolias debuted in 2004, the result of playwright Ron Hutchinson’s plan to reveal to the world just what might have happened in that art deco office of David O. Selznick when his Civil War masterpiece was being born in 1939: The movie is in deep trouble…original director George Cukor has been fired and the script needs a re-write…hundreds of people are still being paid while the production is idle…Selznick has cornered Victor Fleming (director of The Wizard of Oz) and Ben Hecht (a Jewish-socialist-activist writer) in his office and he won’t let them out until the script is ...Read More

Moonlight and Magnolias debuted in 2004, the result of playwright Ron Hutchinson’s plan to reveal to the world just what might have happened in that art deco office of David O. Selznick when his Civil War masterpiece was being born in 1939: The movie is in deep trouble…original director George Cukor has been fired and the script needs a re-write…hundreds of people are still being paid while the production is idle…Selznick has cornered Victor Fleming (director of The Wizard of Oz) and Ben Hecht (a Jewish-socialist-activist writer) in his office and he won’t let them out until the script is ready…Hecht is so confident the film will fail, he refuses to read the Margaret Mitchell book the movie was drawn from.

Now the fun begins. Locked up for a week with only bananas and peanuts to eat, the trio of conflicting personality types get crazy and melodramatic, each day becoming more obsessed and more disheveled in their attempt to prevent what many people believe will be a screen flop. Remember, we know how the real-life story ends; GWTW remains the most popular movie of all time. And that’s part of what makes this production so enthralling…the audience knows a secret unknown to the characters. An historical side note: in a touché for Selznick, Hecht refused credit for the scriptwriting and Fleming declined a share of the profits in favor of a small salary.Maybe this play needs a California audience to really resonate-- as it didn't during its run in New York where CurtainUp was not alone in being less than enthused in its comments. To read that review go here. Hutchinson's Rat In the Skull, garnered a more favorable review when it was revived l at Berkshire Theatre Festival. To read that review, go here.February 21 through March 23, 2008Thursday, February 21 • Preview 8:00 p.m. • $10Friday, February 22 • Opening Night 8:00 p.m. • $25, includes post show gala catered by Margaret Fox of Harvest MarketSaturday, February 23 • 8:00 p.m.Sunday, February 24 • 2:00 p.m. Thursday, February 28 • Community Partner’s Benefit performanceFriday, February 29 through Saturday, March 1 • 8:00 p.m.Sunday, March 2 • 2:00 p.m.Thursday, March 6 through Saturday, March 8 • 8:00 p.m.Sunday, March 9 • 2:00 p.m.Thursday, March 13 through Saturday, March 15 • 8:00 p.m.Sunday, March 16 • 2:00 p.m.Thursday, March 20 through Saturday, March 22 • 8:00 p.m.Sunday, March 23 • 2:00 p.m.

Like British actress Vivien Leigh, Irish writer Ron Hutchinson has inserted himself into that American classic Gone With The Wind by conceiving a hilarious week in which its producer David O. Selznick (Rob Nagle) locked writer Ben Hecht (Kip Gilman) and director Victor Fleming (Greg Mullavey) in his office to write the screenplay for Margaret Mitchell's best-seller. You don't have to be familiar with that or with movie-making to enjoy this full-blooded romp. Hutchinson uses the screwball comedy genre with a dash of Frank Capra ladled into Ben Hecht's political speeches and it all works.
We don't need to worry about historical accuracy here, since what happened at Tara stays at Tara. We know there was lots of fiddling with the script credited posthumously mainly to Sidney Howard. Hecht, a respected journalist was also a dab Hollywood hand with scripts, and Fleming, a man's man, was Clark Gable's director of choice, brought in after Gable complained that George Cukor, beloved by his f

by Laura HitchcockA CurtainUp Los Angeles

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References: http://www.1mtc.org/indivtkts.htm

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